Katie has been a registered organ donor since she first got her driver’s license nearly 20 years ago. However, as a recent recipient of tissue donation herself, she has been inspired to become a stronger donation advocate.

Katie always wanted to be able to call herself a runner. Her dad and brother were both big runners, but it was not until college that she felt inspired to start running herself.

Initially, she just wanted to join them for the annual Turkey Trot 10K, but that turned into a half marathon, which turned into a full marathon, and the rest is history. She has run over 30 half marathons and 13 full marathons in 23 US states and 4 countries. Katie is also a coach for the marathon training program through her local running store.

Running the Sydney Marathon will be even more meaningful as it will be her first marathon back since tearing her ACL. After completing the Tokyo Marathon in March 2024, she went skiing, and tore her ACL. She was lucky enough to receive a donor patella tendon to reconstruct her it.

Katie is immensely grateful to her donor and their family, for the selfless decision to give their organs and tissue. Every post-recovery mile means so much more now. She cannot think of any better way to honor her donor than by fundraising for this cause for this race.

Stanley is a strong supporter of organ transplants.

He has a close personal friend who had a heart transplant, and it changed his life for the good. Additionally, Stanley’s brother-in-law is a diabetic, and his oldest son donated his kidney to him. This greatly enhanced his life. Finally, Stanley has another friend who was recently added to the heart transplant list, and he is excited about this for her.

Stanley believes that by working together, we can help educate and expand the scope of organ transplants. The technology today is opening up so much promise and excitement to help those in need of life-saving organ transplants, and Stanley wants to be a part of this.

Stanley has been racing competitively for 15 years. He is an Abbott World Marathon Majors six star finisher, and currently working on his second six star. He and his wife currently have 9 grandchildren, and are expecting number 10. They believe in helping others, and in giving back.

Gajal is a trauma surgeon in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is heavily involved in end of life care, as well as works with many patients that end up being organ and tissue donors.

She is also a mother of 4 (soon to be 5). Gajal has run all 6 of the previous Abbott World Marathon Majors, including several while pregnant and/or nursing. Most recently, she completed the Dallas Marathon at 29 weeks pregnant!

Gajal is excited to be part of the first group of people to get the AWMM 7th star.

Jessi has been a registered organ donor since her teens, is a member of the bone marrow and blood stem cell registry with NMDP, and one of her favorite things to do is to donate blood. Jessi is also the Executive Director of the Chris Klug Foundation.

Organ donation is something quite literally close to her heart as her father received a life-saving heart transplant in 2015. There are no words or actions large enough to express her gratitude every day to her father’s donor and donor family, but Jessi feels working for and representing CKF is a great way to honor them.

In her free time, Jessi loves to spend time with her rescue kitty, Bergamot. She loves books (especially mysteries and stories with magic), movies and TV series (especially cheesy ones), and all things athletic. Jessi is a runner, biker, swimmer, skier, hiker, and racer (participant, not competitor). Her favorite words are “Yes” and “Why not,” and she loves to travel, particularly to participate in athletic events (usually ones that are long in distance or time) and foreign countries.

Jessi also love challenges, and so she is on a mission to complete the Abbott World Marathon Majors. She has completed NYC and Berlin, and after Sydney she is registered for Chicago.